Carabao Cup 2017/18: Arsenal 2-1 Norwich City; Player Ratings

Eddie Nketiah grabbed the headlines after his brace from the bench helped Arsenal beat Norwich 2-1 after extra time. Arsenal will now move into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, but they did suffer a scare as Norwich nearly got the victory.

Arsenal were dominant in possession but struggled to create any chances, and when Josh Murphy was played in behind and scooped the ball over young Matt Macey, the Norwich fans went crazy in celebration.

They put in a strong defensive shift all night, right up until Eddie Nketiah’s substitution, where he smashed home the ball after a corner was flicked on. Then Arsenal ran Norwich ragged, creating many chances, before Nketiah would score again, heading in from another Arsenal corner, winning the cup tie for the Gunners.

Here are the player ratings for either team from last night's game:

Arsenal

Matt Macey – 6

On his senior debut, Macey did very little wrong and made a nice solid save to stop Oliveira from making it 2-0. Other than the Oliveira effort, Norwich had very few opportunities on goal.

Mathieu Debuchy – 6

Debuchy looked comfortable in the right centre-back role, which is different to his usual position of right-back. He defended well and brought the ball forward similarly to how Monreal does for Arsenal. However, he was fortunate not to give away a penalty with just a few minutes of extra time to play.

Mohamed Elneny – 5

Arguably, a natural central defender would not have let Murphy run in behind so easily for his goal, but it is not Elneny’s natural instinct, being a central midfielder. He was very good at bringing the ball out from central defence, but looked clumsy in defence on occasions.

Rob Holding – 6

Holding was calm with the ball in defence and did nothing wrong throughout the whole game, in a solid performance.

Reiss Nelson – 6

Nelson made a strong start looking to be direct and take on the Norwich left back, but as the game went on, he grew quieter.

Francis Coquelin – 5

The Frenchman was nowhere to be seen in defensive midfield when Oliveira played Murphy through for the goal, and he offered nothing on the ball as Arsenal attempted to break down Norwich’s deep block. He did, however, get the assist for Arsenal’s equaliser with a fantastic flick on.

Jack Wilshere – 5

Wilshere, based on his recent performances against Doncaster, Bate Borisov and Red Star Belgrade, was expected to run the show, but he struggled to affect the game and was even booked for a frustrated tackle.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 6

Like Nelson, Maitland-Niles started very strongly but faded as the game went on and found it difficult against Pinto who defended extremely well.

Theo Walcott – 5

With Norwich defending so deep, Walcott found it particularly difficult to get in behind, which is usually an attribute of his game

Alex Iwobi – 4

Iwobi would have expected to flourish against a weaker opponent, but the Nigerian found it very difficult and was one of Arsenal’s poorest performers.

Olivier Giroud – 5

Giroud was very ineffective and was dealt with comfortably by the Norwich defenders. He found it difficult to link up with anyone and didn’t see much of the ball.

Substitutes:

Chuba Akpom – 7

In his first senior appearance for Arsenal in a while, Akpom impressed from the bench and helped Arsenal up the tempo before getting an equaliser and eventually taking the lead in extra time.

Eddie Nketiah – 9

The definition of an immediate arrival. Just seconds after being introduced from the bench Nketiah slammed the ball home from close range for Arsenal’s equaliser. He then continued to make an impact and scored from a corner with a header after a good leap above the Norwich defender.

Josh Dasilva – 6

Dasilva came on when Arsenal had more freedom already being ahead, and he was able to run in behind on the left-hand side. He put in some very good low crosses which would cause any defence problems.

Joe Willock – N/A

Introduced with just five minutes to go in extra time, Willock was there to keep the ball and was barely involved.

Norwich City

Angus Gunn – 9

Manchester City loanee Gunn made a very impressive save to deny Holding from close range, tipping his header over the bar. Then in the dying minutes, he made an incredible stop that kept his Norwich side in it as he denied Wilshere from close range.

Ivo Pinto – 8

The Norwich City captain led by example and kept Maitland-Niles’ threat to a minimum, often forcing him backwards.

Cristoph Zimmerman – 7

The Norwich centre-back defended extremely well, heading away all loose balls and staying tight to Giroud.

Timm Klose – 7

Similarly to Zimmerman, Klose defended well and did his job perfectly, which was to win every ball possible and keep Arsenal from passing through the lines.

James Husband – 7

Husband was a big part of a very good collective defensive performance from Norwich. He faced the very talented Reiss Nelson and nullified his threat for most of the 90 minutes. Additionally, he should have been awarded a penalty after taking on Mathieu Debuchy in extra time but the ref waved it away.

Harrison Reed – 8

Southampton loanee Reed put in a very impressive midfield performance, frustrating Wilshere and forcing him backwards and sideways. Additionally, when Reed got on the ball he showed he can play too, helping transition the ball forward on some rare occasions.

Tom Trybull – 7

Alongside Reed, Trybull put in an impressive defensive shift to limit Wilshere, especially.

Mario Vrancic – 6

Vrancic could have settled the game at 1-0 but dragged his effort wide from close range. Going forward the right midfielder was limited and often cut out by Maitland-Niles, however, he did a good job defensively.

James Maddison – 7

The Norwich midfielder was playing in the number 10 role but mainly put in a strong shift defensively, and did so very well pressing Wilshere and Coquelin.

Josh Murphy – 8

Murphy was very direct and made a great run inside the Arsenal back three which led to him scoring a delightful chip after being played through by Oliveira. He continued to threaten until he was substituted for Stiepermann after 72 minutes.

Nelson Oliveira – 8

The lone Norwich striker played a well-weighted through ball to set up Murphy for the opener and pressured the weak Arsenal defence into many mistakes, including getting Elneny booked.

Substitutes:

Marco Stiepermann – 5

Stiepermann’s name was barely heard after his introduction as Arsenal took control of proceedings.

Yanic Wildschut – 6

Wildschut was brought on to help out defensively and continued to do Vrancic’s defensive shift well.

Wes Hoolahan – 6

Hoolahan looked by far the most gifted Norwich player and showed his composure in attack against Arsenal, but his side spent most of the time in their half.

Cameron Jerome – N/A

The striker didn’t see much of the ball after his arrival and struggled to get involved.